The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1887-02-16

and these stalls kept well Uttered, n yer,
large portion Of the urine is absorbed
and perfectly saved. When litter is i'm
prcgnNtcd with urine, its quality j.
greatly improved. 1t is a very diffGrcn
thing from lttcr simply mixed with sole
eXcrcmcnt aud rottcd. Here is room fo]
! great improvement IN our methods th;.
huSbanding of the urine.
Again, stalls should not be cleaned out
F., more thun once car. Managed u.
/ above, neither the health nor the clean
!imcHs OF amimas demands il, and under
no other conditions can manure lie &c
! cumuiatcd with 80 Little loss or letrimcnt
| to ils quality. The great foe to barn.
yard manure of high quality is the open
! yard Abundant httcrng helps matters
some, but teaching will be great. yh,
| dark, rich juices which flow from it after
every heavy or protractcd rain are i'm.
preSnatcd with salts of ammonia no less
than soluble mineral ingredients. Let
us Danish the open yards from oul
farms, and change the namc from barn
yard to stGII manure.
Another source OF bulky, organic ma
nure, which is quite unlimited, and
| which may serve as basis fer compost,
is leaves, straw, etc, dCcompoScd b, the
agency OF ashes and lime. Ashes may be
used alone or in combination with lime. or
lime nay be used alone. In the last case
the chief function of the lime is to de-
compose and reduce the leaves. When
ashes are used alone, they accomplish
the same purpose, bnt in addition in
crease very materially the fcrtilizing
properties of the leaves. They add to
them lime, potash, magncsia, phosphoric
and sulphuric acids-indccl, cvcry min
cral ingredient needed by plants If II
proper amount of ammonia and some
phosphoric acid be added to such n
mixture, very complete and perfect
manure is produced. Such mixture,
then, makes an excellent basis for n
compost. Ashes and lime shou!d not be
added directly to stable manure: they
will drive of ammonia. But after those
substances have been mixed with large
quantities OF leaves, have become diluted
and marked by them, and entered into
new combinations, they may then be
mixed with stable manure without detri-
ment. Ten bushels of ashes to three or
four well packed two horse wagon loads
OF leaves makes II good mixture. 1t
ought TO be prepared some months be-
lore 1t enters into the final COMPOST hcap.
y farmer might begin now, aud ut all
available opportunities through the wear,
gather and haul leaves and put up pens
OF such miXturcs lie would DC aston
ished Mt the amount which system and
energy would accumulate in tie course
of year. 1t should not be put in piles,
but IN pens four OF five feet high, well
moiatcncd to start with, we'll picked and
covered ut top with layer OF rich dirt
several inches thick to retain moisture.
4 int. q, lao,
cnCd, rains will be apt to keep it wet
enough afterwards. Rain will leach thin
layers OF manure scattered in q yard or
the thin edges of n spread ont heap, but
will not leach Il mass four feet ;hick with
straight upright sides.
Now, supposing farmer has the
several materials mentioned on hand and
Is ready 10 make his compost how shall
nc proportion the several ingredients?
Eurman'a formula, now SO extensively
used, Is thirty bushels each of stable
manure and cotton seed, 100 pounds of
acid phosphate and 200 pounds Of kainit.
Experience has shown this to he n yory
excellent compound Cor land OF average
fertility. Can it and should it ever he
varied? Suppose one has cotton Sc, d,
but 10 stable manure. In such case ten
additional bushels of cotton seed should
take the place of the lacking manure; SO
that the formula would be 10 bushels of
cotton seed, 100 pounds Of acid phos-
pha!c and 200 pounds OF kainit. But it
would be dcsirablc to keep up the de-
sired dllutiOn OF the chemical fertilizers
III the compost, to mix with the above
ingredients twenty-five or thirty bushels
of rich earth, or wood mold, or some
thing OF the kind. Again, suppose ono
has stable manure, but no cotton seed: !:
the place of the cotton seed may be
taken by cotton meal-say 30 bushels of
manure, 800 pounds of cotton seed meal,
100 pounds of acid phosphate and 200
pounds OF kainit. Suppose ones land is
extremely poor Then the quantity of
the cotton seed III the compost may be
doubled, the quantities of other ingrodi-
ents remaining the same. ii ones land
IS quite rich, half or even less Of the cot
ton seed may enter into the compost,
the other constituents remaining the
same. Suppose one has the mixture of
leaves and ashes, but no manure or cot
ton seod; then the formula should be 60
bushels of leaf mixture, 400 pounds of
cotton seed meal, 400 pounds of acid
phosphate and 100 pounds of kainit.
Less kainit would be called for in this
case, because the ashes, in leaf mixture,
would take its place. Ii lime only was
mixed with the leaves, the full quantity
Of kainit should be added.
1t is well to build the compost pens in
or near the fields to which it is to be ap-
pied; this will save hauling during the
very busy season of spring. And every
one ought to provide himself with a
compost distributor, both for econon,iz
ing labor and time and for securing uni
tormity OF distribution. Various pat.
terms of these are now made over tho
country, and some of them are simple
and inexpensive. A revolving cylinder
with spikes, in II hopper with slot in the
bottom and movable slides to regulate
width Of slot, constitute the essential
parts of sprcader, and almost any farm
or can make ono for himself.
As spring oats will be sown this
month, attention is called to the mixed
character of seed oa,s sold in tho market
lS npXng 1lst-Ofoof oofq Loot ,,o,,. n